Thursday, June 27, 2013

PTEROSAURS

I've spoken before on how, when writing CHRONAL ENGINE, I spent a good deal of research time on components of the paleoenvironment other than dinosaurs. One such component included pterosaurs, the flying archosaurs which, like dinosaurs, perished at the end of the Cretaceous.

One of my go-to resources was paleontology collection of the journal PLoS One, and one of the more prolific authors of pterosaur papers was Mark Witton. I am delighted that Princeton University Press just published his comprehensive treatise on pterosaur palenotolgy.

If PTEROSAURS. had been available while I was writing CHRONAL ENGINE, the research job would've been much simplified. Filled with full-color illustrations by the author, PTEROSAURS explores, in an in-depth but conversational fashion, the history of pterosaur research and our current understanding of their evolution, biology, and environments. Although probably not for everyone, PTEROSAURS would make an excellent addition to any reference collection and especially that of an advanced (adult or young adult) lay-reader.